A friend recommended this book to me and I have been completely excited about it! It is about a mom/wife/writer who took a look at her life and asked herself why she wasn't happier. Her life was going good, her family was healthy, things were good; but she wasn't feeling totally happy. So she decided to spend a year pursuing goals toward happiness.
This is totally me too! My husband is healthy again, my children are wonderful, I have more work coming my way than I even want, and yet I am not happy. And I'm not sure why.
Now, as a Christian, I know that I have a different paradigm on what leads to "joy" verses "happiness." I have "joy" in the sense of comfort that comes from eternal life and the recognition that God loves me. That's not what this is about for me.
For me, this book is about the journey toward making and achieving goals for myself. Not just feeling like a gerbil on his little wheel, but actually making progress and feeling better about life in general.
Coming from a Calvinist childhood (aka John Calvin and the Dutch Reformed background), I find it a bit disconcerting to be persuing personal happiness. We were always taught to sort of martyr ourselves for the happiness of others. But I am learning a truth about myself that if there are little ways that I can bring pleasure in my life I am then in a better place to pass it on. For example, if I take the 30 minutes/day to exercise, the return is more energy and a better attitude for my family.
So, my project is beginning. I already knew that 2010 would be the year that I would make changes in my life toward better health and a more positive outlook. This book fits nicely as a framework in which to make some of my own goals and go about reaching them. Check lists make me happy anyway.
So far, I have made my list of the areas in my life that are important to me and the areas in which I want to have goals: my faith, my marriage, my children, my extended family, my friends, my attitude, my work, playtime, passion/hobbies, health, and finances. Pretty basic list.
Then, as the author did, I made a list of personal "commandments" to remember in this process:
1. Be Tami.
2. Act the way I want to feel.
3. Do it now.
4. Enjoy the process.
5. Identify the problem.
6. Lighten up.
7. Treat others how I want to be treated.
8. Be loving.
9. Even a little bit helps.
Most of these come from the author, but I tweaked them a bit to fit me.
The author broke her goals into months. I am still creating my goals. I am working on it today!
I am hoping to share of bit of my journey with you throughout the year. I'm thinking it would be fun to create a challenge and be held accountable through my blog. I'm still working out the details.
I just wanted to share what I'm excited about. The ideas in the book are not profound in and of themselves, but the recognition of the little changes I can make that would result in a sense of accomplishment and release is refreshing and exciting.
